UMaine scientist featured in National Geographic

February 23, 2013 - 11:16 AM

WALPOLE, Maine (AP) — University of Maine marine scientist Rhian Waller is featured in the March edition of National Geographic magazine.

Waller is described as a risk taker in the "New Age of Exploration" piece. An assistant research professor in the School of Marine Sciences, Waller's pressed the limits of diving during more than 40 expeditions around the world.

In a submersible, she plunged to a depth of 3,600 meters for corals on the New England Seamount chain in 2005. Waller frequently scuba dives in temperatures of 35 degrees and colder in the name of science.

Waller's research focuses on how environmental factors such as climate change, fishing and oil exploration affect deep-sea coral ecology and reproduction.

A National Geographic Society yearlong series highlights 21st century explorers who "press the limits."